A Delena Thanksgiving
by John Reed
Summary: After Episode 4x06 - Elena feels lonely on Thanksgiving, and runs into Damon...
1. Chapter 1

_This story takes place on Thanksgiving Day, after the events of Episode 4x06 - We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes…_

Elena approached the cemetery slowly , lost in thought. So lost in thought that she almost didn't see Damon there.

He was sitting, bottle in hand. She thought he must have been lost in thought himself, he didn't seem to notice her. She started to wonder about what she should do, but he soon spoke, interrupting her thoughts.

"It's Thanksgiving, Elena. Shouldn't you be with family?"

"Are you drunk?" she asked. Damon may have been the cause of her breakup with Stefan, but that didn't mean she wanted to spend any time with him if he was drunk.

"No," he said, and held up the bottle. She could see that it looked full. "Barely a swig."

She nodded and went to sit by him. She wasn't sure if Stefan had said anything to him about their breakup, and she wasn't sure exactly how to approach Damon about it anyway. But she decided she could sit by him, just like he sat with her right after he had saved her. She had been comfortable being with him then, this should be no different.

"I could ask the same of you." Elena said. "Why aren't you with your family? With Stefan?"

Damon snorted. "I wanted to be with family on my first Thanksgiving after becoming a vampire, but everyone was dead except for Stefan, and he was off being a Ripper douche."

Elena nodded as he took a swig from the bottle and added, "So I started a new tradition."

"But you, Elena," Damon said a few seconds later, when she hadn't replied. "You have a brother. You should be with him."

She shook her head a little and looked away. "I offered to make a dinner for him. He said it would be a waste to cook a whole turkey for just him. He's with Matt and April, she's making dinner for them."

"A survivor's reunion." Damon said. He started to move the bottle towards his lips, but when he saw Elena's expression, he put it down instead. "But surely Stefan would take you out to catch and drain a bird of some kind."

Elena looked at the grave in front of them. It was Alaric's. "Stefan and I aren't really…" She let herself trail off. She didn't really want to finish that statement, though she decided that Stefan had probably not said anything to Damon yet.

"Not in the best place now." Damon seemed to finish for her. "I'd offer to take you to hunt, but you probably don't want a human, and you still can't drink turkey blood."

Elena shook her head and finally turned her eyes to meet his. "What am I going to do, Damon? Holidays have always been about family for me. Now even Jeremy doesn't want to be with me.""

"That's not true," Damon said quickly, taking her hand. "He may not want to watch you feed, he may want to eat with other friends; but I'd bet he'd do something with you to celebrate the holiday."

Elena let a breath out and turned to face forward again, though she held onto his hand. "Like what? He's a hunter now, and I'm what he hunts."

"You know he would never hurt you, Elena, any more than you would hurt him."

She shook her head and looked a little sick. "I shoved a knife into his throat," she said. "Who knows what either of us could do to the other."

Damon put a finger from his free hand to her lips briefly. "We fixed that. You're yourself again."

Elena's talk with Stefan came back to her mind. "I don't know who I am, Damon," she whispered. "I'm changing. I don't know what I'm becoming."

"You're becoming a vampire. You're doing what you have to do."

She nodded and let herself lean against him. "I'm trying to stay who I was and still do this. It's so hard."

He pulled her into his chest, into a hug. She didn't resist – this was what she wanted and what she needed just then.

"Just let it come, Elena," Damon whispered. "You'll stay true to yourself."

Elena cringed as a memory came to her. "I almost killed Matt."

"I stopped you. I'll always stop you, before you do anything you would really regret."

She nodded again. "I know, you will - if you're there with me."

"I'll always be there – or at least I'll be there every time you let me."

"I know, Damon." Elena whispered. "I know."

She realized then that that she was feeling comforted in his arms. She was finally past Stefan and his lies, his judging everything she did, his expectations that she would be like him. She knew that Damon could be every bit as gentle and supportive of her as Stefan had ever been. She let herself relax as she felt his hands moving gently on her back, her neck and head.

Finally, when she was completely relaxed in his arms, he asked, "So why did you come here?"

Elena pulled away from the hug and shrugged. "Thanksgiving is about family. Jenna, Isobel, my parents. They're my family, and they're all here."

Damon nodded, but remained silent.

"I guess Rick's here for you." Elena added. "Aren't we pathetic?"

She was surprised at the sudden change in Damon's expression. He looked at her sharply, then stood. "Stefan has rubbed off on you, hasn't he?"

"Stefan?" Elena ask, confused.

"'Aren't we pathetic'?" He repeated, mockingly. "Martyr much?" He moved to stand in front of her and took both of her hands in his. "We're not pathetic, Elena. We're vampires. If you'll come with me, I'll show you what that means."

She looked into his intense eyes, recalling that when she had gone with him before, she had come to regret it. But she also realized that it was never what she had done that she regretted, it was her worry about what Stefan would say – what he did say. She didn't have to worry about that anymore.

"No one will get hurt?" she asked.

Damon was smirking now. "I'll stop you before you hurt someone, if you'll stop me before I do".

"Deal!" Elena said, rising, holding on to one of his hands as he started moving, feeling as good about her situation as she had in days.


	2. Chapter 2

"Had your fill? Are you hungry at all?" Damon asked Elena

"I have," she nodded. "I'm not hungry at all. You?"

Damon shook his head as they walked side by side. They were in a residential area of Mystic Falls – not close to her own home, but an area she had visited before.

They had been hunting, though not in way she had ever thought possible. This wasn't the heated environment of the frat party – she didn't even begin to lose control. Just a visit to a few families she didn't know who were eating or doing something else outside of their homes. The bites were careful, small, barely noticeable. Damon said they might completely heal before the victims even noticed them.

She was comfortable with him from when it started to now. As they walked, she was tempted to take his hand, but he didn't offer so she held back. She was still wondering about how to best approach him.

"I wasn't all that hungry when we started," he said. Then he stopped and turned to face her. "But you, have you had anything since the frat party?"

Elena lowered her eyes and shook her head. "It wasn't that long ago."

He put his hand under her chin and pulled her eyes to his. "You can't just not eat."

"I'm fine," she said, putting her hand on his wrist which was still under her chin. "Really, I am."

He seemed to have misunderstood the gesture. Though she hadn't pulled at all, he dropped his hand from her chin and turned away.

"I should probably get you home," he said, not looking at her at all. "Stefan might try to contact you again, and maybe you should talk to him."

She was instantly in front of him, shaking her head. "No Damon," she said, grabbing one of his arms with one of her hands. "Stefan…"

His eyes had met hers, but she had to look away to continue. "Stefan and I broke up."

"Oh," he said. When she looked at him, his face had a look that she might have called thoughtful. "Why?"

Elena shrugged. "He saw some things about us, about me, that I thought I was hiding."

Damon looked at her sharply. "About you, or us, Elena? Because I get it that he's not happy about me helping you."

"It's not just that. It was about me letting you help me, about me trusting you when I didn't trust him."

Damon smirked. "You asked for help and trusted his brother. I can see how that would upset him."

She couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. She had to look down again. "It wasn't just that, Damon. I guess he could see how I acted around you. It wasn't easy to turn to him when you were there too. He could tell."

Damon snorted. "He could tell that I helped you and you appreciated it. Could he tell that I let you choose what you wanted to do, how you wanted to approach things?"

"I don't know." Elena said, confused at his reaction. She was getting worried. This wasn't going at all as she had hoped. She had imagined kissing by now.

"You picked him, Elena." Damon said, his face hard. "You told me it would always be Stefan, that whatever you felt for me, you never unfell for him. That you would always love him. And I respected your choice."

She cringed. She knew she was letting him see that his words stung. She found herself whispering, "Things are different now, Damon. I'm different. Stefan can see it – can't you?"

"I see what I've always seen – you letting me help you, then running back to Stefan without another thought, no matter what he's done."

She flinched and looked away from him again. "I guess I deserved that. But not anymore, Damon. It won't happen again."

"Why? Because Stefan says so?"

"No!" She quickly defended herself. "It has nothing to do with him. It's about you; you and me."

Damon waited until she met his eyes again, then said, much too calmly, "So you talked about me, about you and me, and reached an agreement with Stefan."

Elena was desperate by now. "Damon, please. I thought this is what you wanted. You've always said that you love me, said it and shown it."

"And you've always ignored it. You've never cared."

She quickly shook her head. "I've always cared, Damon. Ste…he was in the way. He's not now. I thought that's what you wanted."

Damon's face was blank now. "What I want is someone I love who loves me - who loves me, no matter what or who is in the way."

If it was hard for her to face Damon's glare or smirk, it was harder for her to talk to him when his expression showed nothing. She had to look away again. "I'm doing this wrong, Damon," Elena said in a small voice, her eyes closed, rubbing her head. "Please give me a chance, give us a chance.

She heard nothing for a few seconds and was afraid he had left her, but when she opened her eyes, he was there. His eyes were intense as he said, "I don't think I could take it again if this was like our trip to Denver. If you were just trying to get me to lash out so you could run back to him."

"That's not what that trip was about, Damon. That's not what this is about."

He hesitated, fact still blank. "So you honestly want to give us a try?"

Elena nodded. "Yes. That's what I want."

"Even if this cure turns out to be real? If you want to become human again, and revert back to the old Elena, will you change your mind."

She was starting to feel better. He seemed to be past accusing her. "If that happens, Damon, I'll remember all of this. I'll still want this, want you."

"You don't know what you'll remember. You don't know how it would work."

She knew he was right. He usually was. "You're right, I don't. But my feelings won't change, Damon. I've always had these feelings for you – that won't change."

He looked dubious. She could understand that. She had done exactly what he was accusing her of, but she had to find a way to get him over that.

"This is real?" He asked. "This is not a test to see how long it takes me to go wrong, to see what I might do that would make you dump me."

She looked earnestly back into his eyes. "I've seen what you do, Damon, how you've taken care of me when I …when I wasn't so nice to you. You won't do anything that would make we want to…to end it with you."

"I'm sure you thought that about Stefan," he whispered under his breath.

She heard it, of course. "Damon, please. This has nothing to do with Stefan. It's about you, what I feel for you and what you feel for me."

"Well, the part about me loving you is true," his voice back to normal volume again. "I've never denied that. But you never said you love me."

She thought he was right. She couldn't remember saying it, and didn't have time to think about it just then. "I'm saying it now, Damon. I love you. I'm not sure what that means, but I do, I love you."

He stared at her for a moment. He saw his expression turn to what she would call gentle before he said, "Well, okay. I'm not sure what it means either, so until we're both sure, we take it slow, okay?"

Elena breathed a sigh of relief. She had almost completely blown it, and she knew he had no real reason to trust her. "Slow is fine, as long it's you and me. We do have forever."

"Forever," He repeated. "Is that a promise? I'll be around if you will."

"Deal," she said, taking his hand. She almost risked trying to pull him down for a kiss, but she wasn't really sure what he meant by 'slow'. Still, she was trusting him with her transition, she could trust him with whatever 'slow' was. "Now, will you walk me home, and then not leave so fast this time?"

He held on to her hand as he turned to face her. She stared into his eyes as he pulled her chin up and moved in. "Just walk? Or do you want to be a vampire?" he whispered just before he pressed his lips to hers.

"Whatever," she gasped as he pulled away from the kiss, but held onto her hand, and started moving at full vampire speed. If this was taking it slow, she could deal.

* * *

_Thanks to all who read this stuff, the stuff I write. Although I am 100% Delena, I kind of think Elena should be forced to eat a little more crow than I expect will happen in the show._

_And I can't help feeling that somehow she will run back to Stefan for some reason or other… or that she will love Damon until she is "cured" and then forget her strong feelings for him when returned to being human. _

_I am such a pessimist…_

_Oh yeah…_The End_. (Future Delena drama to continue in Lying to Herself and The Hope and the Need...)_


End file.
